Why a 'gay' leader is unacceptable

12:00AM GMT 05 Feb 2001

SIR - Francis Maude rightly identifies homosexuality as a part of life (report, Feb 3), but he confuses it with "being gay". Most people have no difficulty accepting someone who is sexually attracted to people of the same sex, but "being gay" means adopting a way of life in which expression of the associated desires is pursued without compunction.

We are, all of us, flawed. Those who do not have homosexual temptations to struggle with may well lead worse lives. For Christians the important distinction is whether or not the individual is acknowledging the weaknesses, repenting of the failures and seeking to amend.

Those who are naturally violent, dishonest, greedy, envious or promiscuous could equally well claim that this inclination, like the rain, is part of life. Are they then to be allowed to pursue their traits without restraint and given positions of trust and responsibility?

Of course, the liberal intelligentsia claim "being gay" is not wrong, but most of us know that it is.